Riptide Royalty
by Marissa The Dogfan
Summary: AU. LxMisa Domestic abuse victim Misa struggles with her husband, but when she decides to leave, what can she do with her life? Sometimes, it takes the words of a kind stranger to get you on your feet again.
1. Awakening

**Forgiven Dreamer: I can't improve without criticism. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note, its characters, places, ect. But I do own Athala. **

**Awakening**

Light looked down at the girl on the floor before him.

"Misa," he said, voice calm and flat, seemingly oblivious to the blood pulsing from the open gash on her arm.

She gasped and looked up at him. An eternity with the man. An eternity with the man who broke her heart. "Y-yes, Light?" she asked, tentatively, knowing that she could no longer say anything right. Now, she stuck to simple phrases, trying to talk as little as possible. Trying to avoid as much punishment as possible.

"Does it hurt?" he asked her as his fist connected with her nose, breaking it easily. "You want somebody to help you, don't you, Misa?" he mocked as she let out a groan of pain, trying not to scream as he kicked her over and over again. Finally, it appeared that he was done tormenting her. She closed her eyes as he yanked down his pants and relieved himself onto her. She couldn't even breathe through her nose, but she could tell that the smell was horrible.

As he left, Misa closed her eyes. She knew nobody would help her. She gave up such hope long ago. Nobody had come yet, so why would they?

"Athala, clean up this mess," Light said as he left the house. "I don't want to look at it when I get home from work."

A small woman who couldn't have been more than a year younger than Misa rushed into the room. "Oh, sweetie!" she gasped and knelt down beside her. "He really did a number this time. Okay. Get those clothes off; I'll wash them for you. You can wear a pair of my clothes for the time being."

Misa nodded as Athala helped her out of her clothes. "Sorry," she said lamely.

"You've done nothing wrong, Misa. It was that damn Light," Athala scolded kindly.

"You'll make a great mother one day," Misa whispered. "I waned to be a mother once, with a family and a little house on the ocean and two children and a dog. But that was a while ago."

"Misa...I do love you," Athala bandaged her open wounds.

"If you loved me, you wouldn't let Light hurt me," Misa sounded almost angry. Almost. "If you loved me, you would go to the police."

"No, Misa," she rubbed her shoulder. "If I were stronger, I wouldn't let him hurt you. If I were braver, I would go to the police with this."

Misa closed her eyes and washed out her hair in the sink, knowing that Athala was right. But even if Athala couldn't do it, maybe Misa could.


	2. Removal

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note but Athala is mine.**

**Removal**

Misa stood herself up, her hair now entirely washed and dried. It was nearing sunset now, so Light wouldn't be home from work for a few hours.

The sun was still high enough in the sky to cast a shadow into the room and Misa looked down at her own. "A shadow can easily be the best part of a person," she said aloud to nobody, jealous of her shadow, silly as it sounds. It was beautiful, without any of the scars and fear that Misa had accepted were now part of her life. And her shadow could hide from Light. He never beat the shadow. He never raped the shadow.

"Better now?" Athala peeked into the room, causing Misa to jump a bit.

"A little..." Misa replied sadly, glancing down at that first scar that Light had given her. The scars were always on her arms. The bruises were everywhere. Misa had accepted them.

"I don't know what I can do for you, Misa. I remember when you were a smiling, happy girl. When there was no fear in your eyes. When there was no anger," Athala smiled sadly, the smile of a pitiful woman who had resigned herself to her fate.

A spider scurried across the bathroom's linoleum floor and Misa stomped on the thing with her bare foot, smearing it across the floor. _Why should Light be any different than that bug?_ she asked herself bitterly. _Well, he's not. He's gonna come home tonight. He's gonna be drunk. And tonight's gonna go better than he can imagine._

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

She smirked inwardly, even though she had no confidence, as Light stepped through the threshold of the house. _He's bigger than the spider,_ Misa pointed out like one would the color of another's shirt. _But then again, that spider wasn't a dick-head._

"Girl, Misa," he slurred, drunkenly. "Get those pants off, now."

"No."

Athala dropped one of the plates she was washing. Luckily for her, it had been plastic. Her eyes were wide and alert, confused and prepared.

"I said," Light repeated himself. "Get those pants off."

"And I said no," Misa replied, defiantly.

"Girl, do you know how much you're gonna hurt after this night?"

"Actually, I think I do," she said matter-of-factly.

Light swung a fist at her, but in his drunken state, he was about as threatening to her as a roll of toilet paper. She dodged easily and delivered a kick to his ribcage. It didn't look like it would do much damage, but it did knock Light onto the floor. She slipped on a pair of Athala's shoes and left.

"My...God..." Light gasped from the floor.

"Don't worry, Athala can fix anything," Misa smiled, and for once it was a real smile, as she closed the door. "Free at last."


	3. Understanding

**Disclaimer: I don't own it, dum-nuts.**

**Understanding**

_Ah, who was I kidding? I was just too eager to get the hell out_, Misa thought, running down a street God knows where. _I don't got money, a plan or a job._

_Light kept us cut off,_ Misa realized. _He didn't tell me where we lived or even what country we're in. He didn't tell me where he worked or anything. So I couldn't run away._

_So Athala couldn't run away either._

Thinking of the young woman made Misa's heart hurt.

She reached a street corner and bumped into a guy. He was a big dude, looking like one who was more muscle than brain and all that. "Oi, lookit da lil girl I got 'ere," he said aloud and Misa whimpered. He gripped the end of her skirt and tore it a bit. "You wanna play wit me, lil girl?"

"N-no. I r-r-really don't," she started to cry. She knew she wasn't a strong person. She knew. So she struggled, remembering what she learned in a self-defense class she took when she was a teen. When that didn't work, she went limp, he just shifted her weight. She them began to scream. Loudly. This got somebody's attention. A few passing people glanced over but none of them stopped to lend a hand. They stayed out of it.

"Let her go," a voice spoke calmly, from behind Misa.

"An wat if I don't?" the man asked.

"Well," the other guy said. "Then there's not much I can do but call the police and," he motioned to a big gray and white building not far in the distance. "Do you know what they do to rapists in prison?"

He took out a cell phone and the guy dropped Misa hard on the ground, walking off. "Fine. Whatever then," he said, with the air of somebody who just lost, trying to pretend that he won about him.

"Are you alright, miss?" he asked, once the guy was gone.

"I think so..."

"Where are you staying?" he helped her up. "I'll walk you home."

"Well, I just a-arrived in town and—" she began but he cut her off, not needing to hear the rest.

"I see, well, would you like to stay with me? I'm currently residing in the hotel just up the street from here," he motioned to it.

"Um, yes. I'd love to," she said, not quite entirely sure what she was doing.

"My name is Ryuuzaki, may I have yours, miss?"

"Misa," she decided it was high time to get a look at the man. He had messy hair and was hunched over, but there was something handsome about his rugged looks.

"I see, so Misa, what are you doing in _this _part of town, anyway?"

"Well, you see I. Uh."

"You don't have to tell me, now, if you don't want," his voice was rough and calm and oddly soothing to Misa.

They walked in silence for a few minutes until Ryuuzaki looked over at her, "What happened to your arms, Misa?"

"Wha? This? Well, I...fell," she stammered.

He looked at her incredulously. "You fell?"

She just nodded and he rolled his eyes.

They reached the hotel where he was staying. It was one of those fancy ones that rich people stay at. The kind Misa _used_ to love to stay at. In the room, there were two beds with white sheets. The curtains were pink and matching the rug. There was a TV on the table. It was a typical hotel room, but Misa loved it.

She sat down on one of the beds. "Do you think Misa is worthless? Are you pitying me?" she asked him and he looked over at her.

"Worthless?" he asked. "You're joking, right?"

She shook her head 'no' and buried her head into a pillow.

"Misa, nobody is worthless," his calm voice was firm and reassuring. "Misa, just remember that we – all humans – are shadows in the world. We look different, but we all have our beauty. We are cast according to the light that hits us, Misa. The light that is cast upon you dictates what you become. But you can stand in a different light. I don't believe you are worthless, merely cast in a bad light. Now, you've been given the opportunity to stand in a different light, but Misa, remember that the choice will always be yours."

She stared at him, blinking back a threatening river of tears. Those were the kind of comforting words she'd been silently begging for. Trapped against her will in a cage of lies, pain, fear and abuse, this man, _Ryuuzaki_ had opened the lock nobody else could notice and set her free.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**Author's Notes: Okay, I'm just getting this now, "Light". Whoopsies. Maybe a different metaphor would work better? Ah, I'll just stick with it.**


End file.
